I\u2019ve long been a fan of Smith & Wesson guns. While I don\u2019t like everything the company has done \u2013 internal locks on revolvers, for example \u2013 more often than not, they seem to get it right.<\/p>\n
When the first generation of M&P striker-fired pistols came out a few years ago, I immediately liked them. The guns felt good in my hand, were extremely accurate and looked a lot better than some of the alternatives. Nevertheless, my Glock 19 was still my go-to self-defense gun.<\/p>\n
Why did I stick with the G19 when I liked the M&P guns so much? Two reasons. First, I was already heavily invested in the Glock platform with dozens of spare magazines<\/a> and holsters. Secondly, Smith & Wesson did not make a pistol in the M&P line that matched the size of the G19.<\/p>\n The G19 is, to me, a nearly perfect balance of size in a fighting handgun. It is large enough to be considered a duty pistol and carried by any cop or soldier. However, it is still compact enough that it can be carried in a concealed manner in many situations. Other than my J-frame Smith & Wesson in a pocket holster, my second-generation Glock 19 in a Milt Sparks Summer Special II has been with me more than any of my other guns.<\/p>\n Unless Smith & Wesson came out with a G19-sized M&P, I was going to stick with my Glock.<\/p>\n Well, it looks like Smith & Wesson is making a play for all of the G19 fans with its latest introduction: the M&P M2.0 Compact. This is an all new pistol for the company. It is smaller than the full-size M&P, but larger than the first generation compact M&P guns. In fact, it is right about the same size as the Glock 19.<\/p>\n Looking at this gun, there is little doubt that the pistol is part of the M&P M2.0 series. It has the same general lines as its bigger brother, and Smith & Wesson gave it the same second generation treatment the full-size guns got. The M2.0 treatment includes a new texture on the grip, an expansion of the palmswell grip sizes, enhancement of the stainless steel internal chassis and an improved trigger.<\/p>\n The M&P M2.0 Compact comes in two different calibers and has models with and without thumb safeties. The following specifications are for the 9mm version of the gun without a thumb safety. The thumb safety models carry the same suggested retail price. Models in .40 S&W have two fewer rounds in each of the magazines and are 0.7 ounces lighter.<\/p>\n I spent a lot of time testing the full-size M&P9 M2.0 earlier this year and liked the gun a lot. You can read my review of the gun by clicking here<\/a>. When Smith & Wesson sent me this compact a few months back, I was eager to try it out. Based on my prior experience with the full-size pistol, I had high expectations for this model. It did not disappoint.<\/p>\n My shooting background is from a practical perspective: law enforcement and self-defense. Though I encourage people to participate in the shooting sports, I am more concerned about a gun\u2019s usefulness in a fighting role than a gaming one. I mention this so you have a context for my observations about this gun.<\/p>\n So far, I\u2019ve put a little more than 700 rounds through this gun. About half of these rounds were from three different brands of FMJ ammo (115 and 124 grain<\/a>). The balance of the rounds shot to date have been self-defense loads<\/a> ranging in weight from 50 grains through 147 grains. Measured velocities range from the mid-900 fps to more than 2,000 fps.<\/p>\n Through all of these widely different ammunition loads, I experienced no malfunctions of any kind. More rounds will give me an indication of the gun\u2019s long-term durability. However, it does seem reliable out of the box.<\/p>\n The gun is more accurate than I am. Even so, I was able to shoot sub-1\u201d groups with five rounds at seven yards with no brace or rest. For a guy who\u2019s hands aren\u2019t as steady as they were 20 years ago, that\u2019s accurate enough for me. I have no doubts that this gun in the hands of a pro-shooter could turn in half inch groups at this relatively close distance.<\/p>\n At 25 yards, my groups opened up a bit. Again, I put the fault on me. Even so, sub-4\u201d groups keep all five rounds in the center mass with room to spare.<\/p>\n I really like the aggressive texture that Smith & Wesson chose for the M2.0 series of M&P pistols. It works very well to lock the gun into your hand when shooting. It can be slightly abrasive on someone if his or her hands are relatively soft and they do a lot of shooting at one time. However, it is not going to be painful or draw blood.<\/p>\n I\u2019m still not a fan of the M&P triggers. The M2.0 series has a more pronounced break and reset than the original triggers. Even so, they aren\u2019t as good as many of the other striker-fired triggers on the market. Frankly, the Walther PPS and HK VP9 have significantly better triggers than the Smith & Wesson guns. I also prefer the Glock triggers, but the difference between the Glock and M&P is smaller.<\/p>\n Am I ready to trade my Glock 19 in for a new M&P M2.0 Compact? No. It\u2019s not because I think the Smith & Wesson is inferior to the Glock. I believe the two guns are on par with one another. However, I simply have too much money invested in Glock 19 holsters and magazines to change platforms.<\/p>\n However, if I was new to the concealed carry or home defense market, my view might be a bit different. Both the Glock 19 and the M&P9 M2.0 Compact offer excellent performance at reasonable prices. Compared to the Gen4 Glock 19, I think the Smith & Wesson looks better and feels more suited to my hand.<\/p>\n The new Compact pistol is a solid fighting handgun. If it is better than your preferred self-defense pistol is a personal choice, but it is worth a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Smith & Wesson has a new gun: the M&P9 M2.0 Compact. It’s different from prior Compact M&P pistols, and it is something that you might find very interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2333],"tags":[212,252,300,508,516,1470],"class_list":["post-2058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-firearm-reviews","tag-smith-wesson","tag-pistol","tag-review","tag-mp9","tag-compact-pistols","tag-9mm-pistol"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Smith_Wesson_Compact_00006-300x174.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442895,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058\/revisions\/442895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The New Compact<\/h2>\n
Specifications<\/h2>\n
\n
Experiences<\/h2>\n
Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n